Urgent recruitment‼ How to Save the Ending World ▚ I'm a certain NPC girl from a discontinued VRMMO service, but somehow managing to survive again today - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Boys, Three Days? Witness the Unexpected!

―― December 17, 2056 ――

The AI girl with a simulated personality, Crim, found herself ensnared in ephemeral dreams caused by the fluctuations specific to the quantum network as she logged into the world of a VRMMO that boasted an ARPG.

Civilization had perished, and most organic life on Earth had ceased to exist. What remained was a machine tower resembling the mythical Babel, created by humanity with hope, reaching toward the heavens. Within it, stored among the storage units, an artificial goddess swore to a distant resurgence, separated from the physical realm. She watched over those who slept as electronic records, playing in a simulated meadow created by the final form of a massive quantum computer.

The superior existence of the beautiful AI, endowed with overwhelming computational power, manipulated various windows floating around her, simultaneously advancing multiple simulations of civilization creation.

(Ah, she must be quite bored.)

In a player room devoid of visitors, memories of past event items and weapons and armor used in the early days, meaningless but endlessly polished traumas, resurfaced. The pseudo-personality of the former NPC, now devoid of its former brilliance, gazed into the distance with a faded look.

Just as a simmering anger toward the Master began to surface, or perhaps the expression of emotions reached her, the goddess of the ultimate AI turned her gaze toward her. After a brief surprise, she spoke.

At that moment, consciousness gradually faded, and before she knew it, she stood in the crumbling city area of “UnderWorld,” with dilapidated buildings lining the streets.

“Prepare for the ‘Holy War.'”

“What’s wrong, Crim?”

“Well… it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

For a moment, Shirou considered it as some kind of production, but judging by the Master’s dubious expression, it seemed like it was a daydream that only she could see. The electronic fairy-like girl kept various inexplicable things to herself.

While the post-civilization scene before her eyes somewhat overlapped with the earlier Earth, she closed her eyes, pushing the view to the back of her mind. When she opened them again, she confirmed her current avatar with distinctive features: golden hair flowing down to her waist and crimson eyes.

(All-purpose modules are functioning normally, sensory restrictions excluding pain are only at 10%, and there are no ethical regulations other than the three principles of artificial intelligence. It’s truly liberating here.)

She faintly smiled, understanding that all the vast resources available to players were also usable by her simulated personality.

With a white blouse adorned with an ultra-fine ribbon tie, a black pleated skirt, stockings, and a matching light mod coat draped around her waist, Crim, with her striking appearance, captivated Shirou. As he admired her, her refined expression turned somewhat teasing.

“Men’s gazes are so obvious; it’s easy to see where you’re looking. In the loosely regulated UnderWorld, you could probably touch my chest, maybe?”

She ostentatiously turned her arms forward, pushing up her voluptuous chest, but her Master, back to his senses, shook his head in denial.

“I’ll pass. The first act in this world being that, it would be too much, no matter how you look at it.”

“Hehe, you’ve grown since the first time we met back in our student days.”

He scratched his head, thinking he was no longer a kid. Avoiding the condescending gaze with a tinge of kindness in her bright red eyes, he summoned a translucent window into the void to grasp his virtual world avatar.